Page 70 of Impulsive Saint
“Think about it.” he pleaded. “We stayed in shitty roadside hotels and ate in dives. I used my own money for that, not your parents’.”
“That’s just because you were trying to make me miserable so I’d ask to go home.” she argued.
“At first maybe, but I gave that up as soon as you opened up to me about your mother and about why this trip meant so much to you. I agreed to help you with your bucket list because I wanted to. If it was only about the money, I’d have said screw the list and rushed you straight to Vegas so the job would be done and I could get back to my regular life.” He reached for her face, close enough now to attempt to touch her and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t pull away. “I didn’t want to go back to my regular life. I don’t want to go back to it now. Not without you. I want this, I want you, I want us and everything we could be together. Please, give me another chance, Ashtyn. I’ll never lie to you again. I swear.”
She stared down at him and then glanced around as if taking in the room for the first time all over again, “This is what you used their money for, isn’t it?”
His lips twitched but couldn’t quite form a smile, “I figured your mother and I might agree that it was best spent on you, to make your dreams come true. This is the Vegas you wanted and all I wanted was to give it to you, to make you happy. I never, ever, wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“And I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make that up to you if you let me.” He brushed a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb and moved even closer so his face was only a foot from hers. “Please, try to forgive me, sweetheart.”
“I want to, but…” Ashtyn’s bottom lip trembled, “Were you really going to tell me all this tonight or was that just another lie to keep me from leaving?”
“It’s the truth and I know you don’t have any reason to believe me when I say that but, it is. I wanted us to have a nice dinner and then come back here and I hoped that after I told you that you’d find a way to understand and then we could really be together, completely open with one another, and we could do this part of the trip right, as a couple, because I love you, Ashtyn. I’m in love with you and I know the timing isn’t perfect. I know I’m nowhere near good enough for you, but I love you and I want to be with you, so I don’t care if you don’t love me back, not yet, but maybe someday, if you could, that would be enough for me.”
“Tyler…” she breathed his name out almost as a whisper and surprised him by raising her hands to cover his against her cheeks, “I’m falling in love with you too, you idiot.”
“You are?”
“Of course I am. Why do you think it hurt so bad seeing those messages and realizing you hadn’t been honest with me?” She squeezed his hands, “I opened up to you but you were holding back. You kept this huge secret from me when I told you all of my worst fears and doubts. That’s what hurt the most.”
“I’ll fix it. Whatever you want to know, just ask. I’m an open book. Do you want to hear about my traumatic childhood with an absentee father and an alcoholic mother? Need to know my most embarrassing moment from high school? How about how much I want to strangle Vaughn on a daily basis for continuing to treat me like a kid and interfering in my life as if he’s my dad instead of my brother? Everything about me, it’s yours to know because I’m yours, Ash.”
A small smile touched her lips, “I do want to know those things. I want to know everything about you. But it doesn’t have to be tonight.”
His breath caught in his throat, “Does that mean you’ll give me another chance?”
Ashtyn nodded, “I ran away from Aaron because I didn’t love him and I couldn’t see a future for us where I was happy. I can’t run away from you though. Not just because you said you’d come after me, but because when I imagine my future now, I see you in it, and that does make me happy.”
Tyler leaned forward and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her, pressing his face against her neck. Tears welled in his own eyes but he blinked them back. He couldn’t believe she was this good and kind and generous, that she wanted to stay with him and would give him a chance to make her happy.
“I’ll make you so happy, princess. I promise.”
Ashtyn hugged him tight and he would have sworn he could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke, “Maybe stop calling me princess. That would be a good start.”
“Never.” he chuckled, leaning back to cup her cheeks and then press his lips gently to hers. “I told you, you’ll always be my princess.”
23
Ashtyn smiled as the man she was falling more and more in love with every day lay her down and followed her down onto the bed. She hadn’t expected him. She’d never expected to feel this deeply about someone she’d known for such a short period of time, but in a way, it made perfect sense.
She had fought for her independence. She had demanded her freedom. And Tyler St James was the man that had been by her side every step of the way, helping to uncover a better version of herself.
In the days since they’d arrived in Las Vegas and the night she’d almost walked out on him, their bond had only grown. She had chosen to stay and fight for them and she didn’t regret the decision. She couldn’t. Her heart had chosen Tyler and despite the complicated way he’d come into her life, being with him felt right.
He understood her. He accepted her, flaws and all, and she’d done the same for him.
Whatever twist of fate had put him in that alley when she’d decided to do the most un-Ashtyn like thing of her life and run out on her own wedding, it had been for a reason. This was the reason. The two of them were meant to be together and if she’d needed any more proof, she only had to look at the way he’d poured his heart out to her over the past few days.
That first night in Vegas had been rocky of course but they’d managed to find their way back to the natural ease they’d had from the start pretty easily. They’d laughed and talked into the night and made love on every conceivable surface of the big suite he had booked for them. And Tyler had been true to his word, telling her about his life, his family, his job, and the way the three intermingled together into the mess that was the St. James family.
Ashtyn had listened in awe as he related stories of his two brothers and one sister, admitting that she’d always longed for a big family. He’d told her that she was welcome to his and she’d known that he meant it. Known that he wanted her to be with him, as part of his real life, and that would mean winning over his precocious baby sister and the two demanding older brothers that he seemed to look up to despite his complaints about them micromanaging his life.
She couldn’t wait to meet them all but at the same time, she wasn’t quite ready to go back home.
They’d spent the last four days in Las Vegas doing all the things she’d ever dreamed of doing. They’d gone to a casino and she’d won at blackjack. They’d gone to see several different shows that Tyler had scored tickets to thanks to his connection with the concierge. They’d even sat in on a wedding where the couple was dressed as Sonny and Cher and an Elvis impersonator pronounced them man and wife. It had been the penultimate end to the journey that changed her life forever and she never wanted to go back to reality.
